Category: Chef

One of the main things that help make restaurants stand out is a unique menu. The idea that when patrons visit your restaurant they will get a cuisine that is only unique to your restaurant is a factor that keeps them coming back for more especially if you have a really amazing chef who prepares the meal in a way no other chef can match.

In noting so, as a restaurant owner, before you sit down to decide on a menu for your restaurant, you must get into a thorough process of due diligence to ensure that what you have on offer is truly unique so that your restaurant experience is like no other.

We therefore take this opportunity to share with you 4 easy tips for preparing a restaurant menu.

Ensure that it’s unlike what your competition is offering

It’s always important to operate your restaurant fully aware that you have competition therefore as you decide on your menu, you must be fully conversant with what the competition is offering so that your menu is better than what they have on offer. You must therefore scout your competition tactfully to ensure that they don’t know what you’re up to and also ensure that they can’t counter your menu.

Have a menu you can manage

In the restaurant business, it’s better to curve out a niche for yourself and perfect your service offering within this niche, as opposed to stretching yourself too thin as you try to cover a wide market. The benefit of having a niche offering is that you will have a menu that is easily manageable meaning that your customers will always find what they order readily available any time they make the order.

Have a menu that is easily understood

Regardless of the uniqueness of your cuisines, you must always find an easier way of letting your customers know what you have on offer. This means that even if the meal is an exotic meal with a very difficult name to pronounce, ensure that you provide an easier word for your customers so that they have an idea of what they are ordering. There’s no point having a fancy meal that no one understands.

Have a menu that can be prepared easily

Any time you are coming up with a menu for your restaurant, have a chat with your chef and find out how long it would take to prepare the fancy cuisines on the menu. This is very important to know because you want to be sure that even on your most busy days, you will not keep your customers waiting too long in order to be served their meal because this can be a very annoying experience.

As we mentioned in the beginning, it’s your menu that will help your restaurant stand out but you also have to keep in mind that the way in which you deliver it matters too. Therefore as a summary, ensure you have a unique menu that is easy to manage as well as prepare, and one that your customer will be able to easily pick out.

The restaurant business is very competitive and therefore requires a lot of creativity from restaurant owners if they are to be able to stand out from the competition. We have of course mentioned the need for a unique menu in our previous articles but the question is how will potential customers know what you actually have on offer?

It’s therefore a good idea to have a strategy of bringing people into your restaurant so that they can get a feel of what you have on offer so that they can end up becoming your regular customers. There are therefore a number of ideas you can experiment with which are often inexpensive but very rewarding if done in the right way.

Here are 3 simple ideas you can use to make your restaurant stand out more.

Take advantage of social media platforms

There are more people hanging out online and the best way to be able to reach them is through social media platforms. It’s therefore a good idea to develop a vibrant social media strategy that will increase your engagement with potential customers in the online space. Being active in social media will not only give your restaurant visibility but it will also help you curve out a brand identity therefore enabling you to appeal to the right audience segment.

Host celebration events in your restaurant

One of the most effective ways to get people into your restaurant so that they can have a taste of your service offering is through hosting celebration events. You can package your restaurant as an ideal location for events and offer very competitive prices with the long term goal of getting as many people into your doors so that they get a taste of your services. If you can impress people during such events, you can be guaranteed they will come back from more.

Learn how to set trends

Being the first to come up with an idea will always earn you plenty of points with customers and this is why you must always purpose for your restaurant to be a trendsetter and not a trend follower. This requires you to be very proactive in a wide array of areas such as in the services that you offer, events that you host, in your menu, and in the overall atmosphere that your restaurant offers which include interior and exterior décor, among many other things.

You will realize that being able to make your restaurant to stand out is more about being strategic than spending money and the three ideas we have proposed above may actually not cost you a dime if you do it right. The idea is to get everyone on board from your chef, to your wait staff and all other members of your team to pull together and work towards creating very good first impressions with customers.

The more customers leave your restaurant after experiencing very satisfactory services the more they will come back and the more they will recommend your restaurant to others within their networks. This of course will take some time, consistency and dedication therefore you and your team should be ready to put in the work.